This invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors and, particularly, to an electrical connector assembly for terminating a plurality of electrical wires and including a wire management module to facilitate positioning the wires for termination.
Electrical connectors typically include some form of insulating or dielectric housing for mounting a plurality of conductive terminals. In some connectors, the terminals are terminated or connected directly to various electronic devices such as printed circuit boards. In other connectors, the terminals are terminated to discrete electrical wires which lead or couple the connector in a particular electrical system.
In connecting or terminating the terminals of an electrical connector to discrete electrical wires, problems constantly are encountered in positioning the wires for proper termination. This is particularly true with the ever-increasing miniaturization and density of contemporary electrical connectors. Consequently, various wire management systems have been designed to receive and position the electrical wires for termination to the connector terminals.
One type of wire management system uses a wire management member or component which is molded integrally with the connector housing. Such systems cause considerable and sometimes impossible molding problems. Other wire management systems use wire management members which are separate from the connector housing but are attached thereto by some form of mounting means. Unfortunately, the mounting means often take up valuable space or xe2x80x9creal estatexe2x80x9d on the connector which is undesirable with miniaturized or high density connectors.
By mounting the wire management module to the housing by using some of the terminals, the exposed conductors are more accurately located in relation to the rear portion of the terminals. Also, force on the cable does not pass through the completed joint between the wire conductor and the respective terminal. Finally, this arrangement provides space above the area between the wire conductor and the respective terminal. This space provides access to the appropriate device needed to create the electrical joint.
The present invention is directed to solving, these various problems by providing a new and improved system wherein a wire management module is mounted to a connector housing by at least some of the terminals, themselves, which are used in the connector assembly. This avoids the molding problems of the integral wire management system and the space problems of the separate wire management systems.
An object, therefore, of the invention is to provide a new and improved electrical connector assembly for terminating a plurality of electrical wires.
In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the connector assembly include a dielectric connector housing mounting a plurality of first conductive terminals. A wire management module includes a dielectric body mounting a plurality of second conductive terminals. Wire retainer means are provided on the body for positioning a plurality of first electrical wires and a plurality of second electrical wires for termination to the second conductive terminals. Complementary interengaging mounting means are provided between the connector housing and the second conductive terminals for mounting the wire management module to the connector housing with the first electrical wires in position for termination to the first conductive terminals.
As disclosed herein, the first conductive terminals are signal terminals and the second conductive terminals are ground terminals. The connector housing includes a plurality of terminal-receiving slots into which the second conductive terminals are press-fit to mount the wire management module to the connector housing.
According to an aspect of the invention, the dielectric body of the wire management module is a two-part structure which clamps the electrical wires therebetween. The two parts of the dielectric body also clamp the second conductive terminals therebetween. The two parts of the body include opposing grooves for positioning the electrical wires therebetween. The second conductive terminals are stamped metal components and include T-shaped sections defining opposing ears interengaged in slots in the two parts of the dielectric body.